


Balancing Instincts

by Xennie_B



Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alpha Tony Stark, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alpha/Omega, Beta Steve Rogers, De-Serumed Steve Rogers, Light Dom/sub, M/M, Omega Steve Rogers, Pre-Serum Steve Rogers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-29
Updated: 2016-12-29
Packaged: 2018-09-09 13:54:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,846
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8893210
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Xennie_B/pseuds/Xennie_B
Summary: A/B/O fic: When Steve gets hit with a weapon and its effects cause his dynamic to change, Tony is unsure how their relationship is going to continue. 2016 Captain America / Iron Man Holiday Exchange - gift fic.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ChibiSquirt](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChibiSquirt/gifts).



**Prologue**

In a world where 80% of the population are Betas and seen as the norm, Alphas make up 12% and without an Omega to balance them they are seen as hot headed and problematic. With only 8% of the population being Omega’s it’s rare to meet for alphas and omega’s to meet, not to mention the fact that omega’s can only have one true mate.

Needless to say Tony had given up on ever finding his Omega. And he was ok with that, just like most Alphas, with the right Beta he could find enough of a balance to not turn into a complete lunatic though he’s sure he wouldn’t have to try very hard to find someone to disagree with him.

Pepper was a fantastic balance for him. She’d balanced him for years as his assistant and it only got stronger when they shifted their relationship to dating. That is until it sunk in just how much danger being iron man put them both in. It took a little while for them settle back into a routine and find their initial balance again and let's just say he was glad he'd blown up all his suits because he wasn't sure he'd still be alive if he'd had the suits during that time of instability.

Instead he went back to drinking and locking himself in his workshop. He was so withdrawn from reality he didn't even know Hydra had fallen until a battered Steve Rogers turned up on his doorstep looking for his help.

 

**_10 months ago_ **

_“JARVIS, I need access to the lab please, your master and I need to have a few words.” Steve Rogers was full of righteous fury. For a man who preached team building and pack bonds for the Avengers, hell he even tried to move them all into his tower to build those bonds, he was suspiciously absent when Hydra reared it’s ugly head again._

_“I have reported your wish to Sir and his response was cryptic but I believe I can grant you access.”_

_“Cryptic?” Steve asked confused by the odd response from the AI._

_“Sir is not at his best currently. I do hope your arrival will aide my attempts at helping Sir rather that hinder them.” The AI replied confusing Steve further and also causing a slither of worry to being to work through the super soldier._

_The door slid open and Steve was met by the pulsing base of one of the loud rock song the engineer favoured assaulting his ears._

_It wasn’t until he stepped further into the room that he saw just why the AI was concerned about his master._

_Tony Stark was a mess, this hair was longer and scruffy, the famous van dyke beard lost amongst the shaggy mess covering his chin. His arms and hands were covered in cuts and bruises and he seems to be favouring his left side so there was undoubtedly another injury hidden by the filthy clothes he wore. There were parts of what looked like Iron Man armours scattered all over the room and he was buried up inside the chest of a partially constructed suit._

_If the shocking visual hadn’t been enough to warm Steve that something was wrong the Alpha pheromones fermenting the workshop were so thick and screaming of discontent and instability._

_His anger melted away, he didn’t need to ask why the other man hadn’t come to their aid against Hydra, there was a chance he wasn’t even aware of what had happened._

_Stepping closer Steve made sure his feet made enough noise on the floor that he wouldn’t startle the nearly feral alpha. “Tony?”_

_There was a low snarl before the other man turned to glare at him, “What are you doing in here? I told JARVIS…”_

_“That official consulting hours are between 8 and 5 every other Thursday. Based on the last time you made this statement we are in fact on one of the allocated days for consultation so I allowed the captain entrance,”_

_Tony snarled again and stalked across the workshop putting some distance back between them. His body language was tense and cautious; an alpha whose territory has been invaded._

_Hunching his shoulders and lowering his head Steve took on a submissive manner, allowing his Beta pheromones to leak calm and subservient into the room. He could tell the minute the alpha picked up his scent; his shoulder relaxing slightly and he glanced over his shoulder taking in his passive manner._

_“You’re hurt.”_

_“Yes alpha,”_

_“Why?”_

_“There was a battle, a few of our pack…”_

_The loud snarl that ripped through the workshop halted Steve’s explanation and he lowered his head further, eyes locked on the floor._

_“Do not speak to me of Pack! My offer of pack kinship was rejected by all of you, you do not want to be pack with me so why come here now?”_

_Steve froze at Tony’s words trying to remember when they could have possibly rejected… making sure to keep his face passive Steve groaned inside, of course, after they sent Loki away Tony has offered them all a home in his tower, so they could live and work as a team. Trust the showy man to disguise a formal offer of pack in an invitation of convenience._

_“I cannot speak for the others alpha, but I am sorry, I did not realise it was such an offer or I would not have rejected you so. I only thought it was a temporary stay and did not wish to get in the way of you and your bonded Beta.”_

_“You would have accepted had you known?” Tony asked and Steve glanced a look at the man, his voice had sounded clearer, though still a little gruff from its lack of use, and you could see in his posture he was beginning to calm away from the feral edge._

_“Yes alpha, gladly, I think an avengers pack is an excellent idea, I thought we were despite not living together, I assumed the battle of New York was enough to begin our bond.”_

_“The others?”_

_“I think they believe similar to myself alpha, that we were already the beginning of a pack but did not want to intrude on you and your Beta, particularly right after the battle when she might be upset with your near death.”_

_“It doesn’t matter now, she’s gone.” Tony stated it so matter of factly that it took Steve a moment to process what he’d just been told._

_“Wha...when?”_

_“After the Mandarin, it doesn't matter, you're hurt and you came here for a reason. We're going up stairs and you're going to tell me what happened, while we clean you up, then what you need my help with.” Tony said leading the way from the workshop, not even looking back over his shoulder knowing Steve would follow. And he did, though lost in thoughts that the alpha probably didn't even realise._

_If Pepper left Tony after the Mandarin she must have had the opposite reaction to his two near death experiences than what they expected her too. Instead of needing more time with him she walked away, he could understand why, it took a certain type of person to wait at home for a mate or partner who had a dangerous job and through no fault of their own not everyone could handle it. What troubled him more were the pieces falling into place with the state he'd found Tony in. With Peppers departure and Tony believing they'd rejected his offer of pack… the alpha had been months without a balance. Not to mention no one coming to his side with the Mandarin, he was still pissed at shield for not breaking radio silence on their training mission to tell them one of their own was believed to be dead, which probably hammered the rejection home even harder. He knew Rhodes was a friend and likely another balancing source for Tony but if Rhodes was still active in the military it was likely he was away a lot._

_If he'd really been alone these months with two rejections hanging over his head it was a miracle the alpha wasn't completely feral. Steve watched the tense shoulders leading the way, taking in the slight, barely noticeable, pause in each doorway they went through or corner they came across as if he was expecting to be attacked. As they reached the kitchen and Tony directed Steve to take a seat while he pulled out a first aid kit under the sink Steve swore to himself he would never let the alpha reach this state ever again, they were pack and it was the packs duty to looks after an alpha if they were lucky enough to have one._

 

**Present day**

Pepper eyed Tony across the conference table in confusion, it had been going on for a few months now and she just wasn’t sure how to deal with this new Tony or what was the cause of it. She was honestly a little worried which is why Rhodey was leaning against the wall in the corner of the room observing. It wasn’t an unusual thing for Rhodey to tag along with Tony or herself when he was in town so having him in the room during a Stark Industries board meeting was bothering no one and Tony didn’t know she’d called him in for a specific reason.

She glanced at Rhodey who was also watching as their friend typed away on his phone, seemingly ignoring the CFO standing at the head of the table presenting. Rhodey gave her a look as if to say, ‘What’s the problem, this is normal isn’t it?’ Pepper shook her head subtly and held up a finger gesturing for him to wait a moment.

The CFO finished off and huffed in annoyance at the head of the board as he continued to work on his phone. Even with Pepper as the CEO and running the day to day business of the company, Tony still owned the majority of the shares and was the mastermind behind most of their biggest money makers, so while Pepper was their Boss, Tony was still The Boss and as such he got the last word.

“Tony,” Pepper prompted and some of the other board members began to look upon him with disapproval as well.

Tony took a moment longer to finish whatever he was working on before looking up, he tapped his phone against the palm of his hand as he scanned the table before ending back at their CFO. “So what you’re saying is we’re up 9 points from last month, yay for us, the new phone is a hit, yay for me, but your not so subtle hints that the research department can’t fix their latest problem is going to cost us those 9 points or more. Did I miss anything important?”

The CFO was frozen in surprise for a moment before shaking his head and confirming Tony was correct.

Pepper raised an eyebrow at her friend before turning to face their head of development, though realistically that was actually Tony, as he wasn’t in the labs daily they had to appoint someone who was actually around run things. “Simon, is what Arthur was hinting at the truth?”

“Ah… well you see miss Potts...I …I mean we…”

“Don’t worry Pep, it’s sorted. J, transfer the file I was just working on to the main server and project the plans onto the conference table.” Spinning his phone in a circle on the surface of the table.

“As you wish sir?” Came the AI’s prompt response making a few of the board members start slightly as they did whenever the British accent cut through the room.

The lights dimmed and the room was awash in blues and oranges as the projects schematics were broadcast across the table, the orange highlighting the apparent changes Tony had make and showing the required code edits and additions floating below the design.

“That's...genius, I never thought…” Simon stuttered before realising what he'd said and snapped his mouth shut.

“Well that's why it's my name on the building,” Tony smirked scooping up his phone and standing.

“Is that what you were just doing on your phone?” Pepper asked in amusement.

“I was multitasking. Now if you'll excuse me kids daddy has to get back to his other job,” Tony addressed the board as he buttoned his suit jacket, “Pep darling,” he turned to her pressing a kiss to her cheek as he walked past her towards the door, “make sure you and Rhodey pop up for dinner when you've finished gossiping about me,” he remarked tossing a wink at her and patting Rhodey on the shoulder as he ducked out the door.

“Well gentlemen on that note, unless anyone has any further business, I'd say the meeting is closed.”

Once the last board member had filed from the room Rhodes pushed himself off the wall and moved to sit in the closest seat beside his friend.

“Well?” Pepper prompted.

“Well what? He's fine.” Rhodey shrugged.

“You don't think he's acting strangely,” she pushed.

He sighed, honesty how did he get himself into these situations. “Look Pep, don't take this the wrong way ok? But you've been Tones’ balance for years even before you tried dating, but let's face it while it had its good times and kept him stable it wasn't the best fit.” Rhodey paused to squeeze her hand and try to ease the hurt look she couldn't quite cover up, she may have called off their relationship but she still cared deeply for their friend. With one last squeeze of her hand he continued, it was too late to stop now so she might as well hear the whole thing.

“The last time I saw Tony like this was before his parents accident and the real Jarvis was still alive. He was his paternal Balancer growing up and it was a good match between them. I kept him going for a while but I wasn't the best match for him either and it was going to be impossible once I then you came along. But being in a pack with the Avengers and Steve becoming his Beta, this is the stablest I've seen him in years. So yeah he's acting a little peculiar at the moment, it's like he's on a supercharged balance high, it's a good thing, I promise.”

\------

Tony stepped off the elevator onto the Avengers common floor, undoing his tie and letting it hang around his neck, jacket already draped over his arm, he smiled at the feeling of being home and back in the pack’s main territory.

He’d never thought he needed a pack, that was why he never formed one within Stark Industries like Obadiah had always insisted, though Obi’s goal wasn’t his peace of mind but a way of control. Now with the Avengers and being able to provide for them, the tower as their territory and their weapons and defensive equipment as his defense, as not one of them actually needed him to protect them, he felt a level of peace he hadn’t felt since losing Jarvis.

Following his instincts he followed their pull to his true balance within the pack, he wouldn’t have any of this without them.

Natasha walked past him with a book in her hand, eyes lifting from the pages to give him a small smile, eye dancing with mirth, she knew where he was head but didn’t try to stop him. Bruce was in the kitchen cooking while Sam and Clint sat at the counter watching like eager puppies.

Moving over towards the lounge room Tony couldn’t help but smile at the sight, Steve with his bigger form was curled up around a trembling Bucky Barnes. The winter soldier had been with them for almost six months, seven if you counted the time at the hospital, and while they’d managed to get rid of all the brainwashing and triggers they could find, he still suffered from horrendous nightmares about being dragged back into it from time to time. Usually when that happened the only one who could bring him out of it and helped him calm down was Steve.

Silently Tony reached a hand out and ran his fingers through the blonde's hair to gain his attention. Steve turned and gave him a brilliant smile when he saw who was there. Turning his head enough to press a kiss to Tony's palm, the alphas smiled down at his Beta before nodding that he should focus again on Bucky and then a tip of his head indicating he'd be in the kitchen.

Steve nodded his understanding before turning his attention back to his friend who looked like he was beginning to calm down again.

“How's James doing?” Bruce asked when the billionaire entered the kitchen area.

“Won't be long,” Tony replied, sliding into a seat and accepting the drink Clint slid over to him.

“They're getting less frequent, and he's been able to go to Tash and I as well when he's needed too.” Sam added

“That's good, but for the bad ones he still needs Steve, their bond is the strongest,” Tony said glancing back towards the lounge room

“You know I thought you'd be more jealous of their bond,” Clint said ignoring the warning looks from Bruce and Sam, no one liked to see their alpha upset, it unsettled the whole packs balance when he was.

“Why, they've been pack brothers since they were children, it'd be like Steve being jealous of Rhodey and I, they're completely different relationships than what Steve and I have.”

“We know, we can hear you at night,” came a gruff voice from behind and an arm wrapped around Tony's waist a head resting their briefly as the still upset beta scented him, needed that last feeling of protecting.

Tony allowed the half embrace, tipping his head slightly to allow easier access, “Thank you for letting me borrow you boy,” Bucky murmured before letting go and slipping into one of the vacant seats.

“Not a problem he's just a big teddy bear, great for hugs,” Tony smirked as said man's arm wrapped tightly around him from behind and he lent back into the familiar strong chest of his mate.

“How was the board meeting?” Steve murmured against his ear and Tony just seemed to melt into the other’s arm, all the tension from the day leaving him and he breathed in the comforting scent of his Beta.

“Boring, how was your snuggle session?” Tony teased lazily nuzzling his head against the other man's.  
“Not boring,” Steve smirked into his neck.

“Maybe I should be jealous,” Tony laughed casting a mock threatening look at Bucky who was watching them in amusement along with the others.

“He’s really not my type… too muscley... and male,” Bucky replied putting his hands up and shifting towards Natasha who had appeared silently at some point and was sitting on the other side of him.

“Gee Thanks,” Steve snorted glaring playfully at his best friend

“That’s alright, I like you just as you are.”

“Jeez Tones, who knew you could be such a great big sap!” Rhodey chuckled as he and Pepper entered. Steve stepped back and took the empty seat beside him much to his annoyance. Steve had a thing about being affectionate in front of Pepper, like they were rubbing her nose in it. Tony wasn’t concerned, Pepper had seen him with many people over the years, not to mention she was the one who called off their relationship. She’s never said anything nor acted different once she found out they were together but Steve still had a hang up.

“Hey you two made it! Done gossiping about me already.” Tony smirked turning to his friends and pretending that Steve’s new distance didn’t bother him. The raised eyebrow on Rhodey’s face said he wasn’t exactly successful.

“We weren’t…” Pepper began, but one glance at the avengers told her not one of them believed that for a second, “Fine, but we weren’t only gossiping about you...”

\-----

Tony stood out on the balcony, leaning on the railing, taking in the sight and sounds of the city below, it’d become a bit of a habit after the chitauri attack, to come out at ‘check’ on the the city before bed. He slept better knowing it was all fine and the city wasn’t wrecked. Someone stepped onto the balcony with him, his first thought was Steve who often joined him, before dragging him off to bed, but his instincts told him quickly that it wasn’t his mate who had joined him.

Rhodey entered his peripheral vision as he leant on the rail beside him, “You seem happy.”

“You know when Pepper left, I was a mess, more than you know, Jarvis was very good at covering for me. I was borderline feral then he just showed up out of nowhere and pulled me from the edge. He wasn’t even trying he just did it, it’s like our instincts just went, yep this is the one you want.” Tony began, Rhodey turned towards him leaning one elbow on the rail and giving his friend his full attention but he didn’t say anything, not wanting to interrupt.

“Next thing I know he’s got the rest of the team here and we’re becoming a formal pack and this sense of calm started to leak through my veins, it’s hard to explain, I think it’s something only alpha’s experience so I can’t even give you a point of comparison. It was really good for a while but it wasn’t quite enough, we went looking for Bucky, and obviously we found him. It was stressful and took a while but one day he woke up and knew who we were and what was happening. Steve was so happy he just turned to me and kissed me, we’ve been doing it even since.”

“He’s an insanely good match for you, you’re more balanced than I’ve seen you in years.” Rhodey said clapping Tony on the shoulder and pulling him into a brotherly hug.

“It’s a good feeling,” Tony admitted returning the embrace.

“I’m glad, I’ve been worried about you over the years, for the first time in a long time I feel like I can relax.” Rhodey admitted.

“Well then, let’s just hope I manage to not screw it up this time around.”

 

**Three months later**

Tony wasn't there when it happened. He was on the other side of the battlefield scanning through the doombot remains to ensure Doom wasn't getting too clever and coming up with anything new. Which he wasn't so no problems there. The minute he heard Steve's scream through the coma he was in the air, one last doombot was being destroyed by Thor's lighting but Tony was too late to stop the explosion which not only destroyed the bot but whatever weapon Steve had been hit with. Tony slid into a rough landing, dropping to his knees next to his alpha, two big blue eyes, too big for the thin face they now found themselves in stared up at Tony in horror, before dropping back down to stare at the thin hand poking out from his now much too large uniform sleeves.

Tony didn't know what to do, what to say, he could sense the building distress from the other man, his tiny pre-serum frame was trembling so hard Tony was worried if he touched him with the suit he'd somehow break him and then the hyperventilating started.

"Steve babe, calm down, you're going to give yourself an asthma attack and neither of us have an inhaler, please babe, calm down, we'll work out what's happened, we will, you'll be fine."

Tony knew he was rambling but he was trying to calm down Steve and at the same time stop himself from completely freaking out.

As he panicked more he began to grow and fill out the suit once more. Before they knew it, their captain was back in all their former glory, though his breathing hadn’t evened out and Tony quickly realised that what he thought had been an asthma attack was a panic attack caused by his reverting back to his pre-serum state.

With a quick glance around to see that no one but pack as close enough to bear witness, snapping his faceplate open he locked eyes with his still panicked lover.  
“Steven, listen to me and do as I say! You’re back to normal, back to the super soldier we all know and love. Now we need to calm you down and focus on your breathing, match it to mine.” He enforced the order with a wave of Alpha pheromones and made very deliberate breathing movements with his mouth since his chest movement wasn’t visible inside the suit.

Steve’s eyes constricted to almost pin prick and Tony almost panicked at the unusual; sight before he realised it was working and Steve’s breathing was evening out.

As he began to calm his eyes drifted closed and he slumped forward into Tony’s metal arms as he passed out. Bruce instantly stepped forward before Tony could say anything and checked the captain’s vitals.

“He seems to be ok, I think he’s just passed out from exhaustion but we need to get him back to the tower and into the med bay to check, we don’t know what the reversion did or why.”

Tony stepped forward and gently picked Steve up, the others instantly forming a guard around the two of them as they made their way towards the quinjet where JARVIS had set it down on the edge of the field. Everyone was tense and hyper alert around them, though whether that was more because of Steve or Tony’s release of pheromones was anyone’s guess.

They were just entering the quinjet when the weight in Tony’s arms shifted and he almost dropped the once more pre-serum Steve Rogers. “Steve! Bruce?”

Tony quickly laid his lover down on the stretcher so that Bruce could once more get close to check on the captain.

“His vitals are still ok, I don’t know why he’s reverted again. We need to get back to the tower now.”

Bruce said looking up to the others.

Clint was already moving towards the cockpit to take over from Jarvis who has already started the preflight systems. Natasha began to help Bruce carefully strap Steve in for the flight so it was only Thor who saw the shift in Tony’s behaviour.

Every muscle in the alpha was slowly tensing inside the suit, eyes dilating til there as very little brown left visible as his nose flared and his took in the new scent of his lover. It was still faint… too faint for Thor or the Beta’s to be able to detected it. But not for Tony, not for an alpha who knew his mate so well.

“Anthony? Are you alright, what bothers you?” Thor asked snapping Tony from his trance.

Tony took one last look at Steve and with a muttered “I have to go.” his helmet slammed shut and he blasted from the jet before anyone could stop him.

 

**Four hours after injury**

Steve’s eye were dry and sore as they slowly cracked open to take in the usual sights of the tower’s medical recovery room. Tony had flat refused to have the place look like a hospital room, which is why despite all the high tech medical equipment mounted on the wall above his head the room was a far cry from stark and white. The soft blue walsl were relaxing and the kitchenette in one corner, with a small table for someone to eat or work at if they were keeping someone company in here. The other side of the room contained a couch in front of a Tv that was positioned for both patient and guest to watch comfortably and beside the bed was a recliner chair where Bucky was currently relaxed back into waiting for him to wake.

“Where’s Tony?” the words were out of his mouth before the thought had even finished processing that his lover wasn’t at his bed side with Bucky where he normally was.

Bucky looked up from the book he was reading with a frown. “That's a good question. He wasn't in the quinjet when you got back. Thor said he took off just after securing you for take off... I'm glad you're awake Stevie, you had me worried. You right for a second I'll go fetch the Doc.”

With a nod Steve closed his eyes and just let his mind drift back to the battle and trying to remember what happened, he didn’t want to think about Tony’s absence and how much it was bothering him at the moment, he could worry about that after he talked to Bruce.

Reaching a hand up he runs his fingers through his hair to try and keep the strands off his forehead. Mid motion he pauses, something about the movement felt off, opening his eyes again he couldn’t help but stare at the small this hand held in front of his face. Quickly squashing down the initial swell of fear as his memories swum back, the last thing he remember though was reverting back to normal… well normal for him these days. So why was he back to his past body once more.

“Steve, try not to panic, ok. I’ll explain what I can but for now I need you to stay as calm as you can for me.” Bruce’s voice drew his attention away from his hand, but the sight of the man in a scent restricting mask didn’t help things.

Bruce seemed to pick up his staring at the mask and grimaced apologetically. “Sorry, your scent’s a little all over the place at the moment and it’s upsetting Hulk,”

Steve didn’t have the words so he just nodded slightly, but it seemed to be enough to reassure Bruce a little. Bucky moved back into the room, reclaiming his seat and grasping Steve's hand in his own.

“What do you remember?” Bruce asked

“There was a doombot at the end of the battle, he hit me with some kind of weapon. Then I remember pain and I changed back to my original body. Then Tony was there calming me down and I went back to normal. Then I woke up here like this again.” Steve recounted, ignoring as Bucky's hand got slightly tighter in his grip at his upset from hearing what happened to his friend.

“Well you don’t appear to have any major gaps in your memory, that’s a positive. We don’t know for sure what the weapon was, it was destroyed along with the doombot by Thor’s lightning. Which makes it hard to say exactly what it was and whether it did what it was supposed to or whether this is an unforeseen side effect…” Bruce trailed off as if he was looking for the right thing to say next, Steve stayed quiet, he knew how much the other man hated this part which is why he wasn’t an actual doctor despite having the knowledge to be one.

“The weapon’s caused a destabilisation between your body and the serum. It’s not gone, it’s just… One of the problems I had when I was trying to recreate the serum was to find a stabilising agent, that’s what I was trying to use the Gamma radiation for. I don’t know what Erskine used and even after years of looking at your bloodwork I still haven’t figured it out.”

“So what you’re saying is I’m stuck like this, but still have the perks like my healing, since the cuts on my arms from the fight are gone and I don’t feel short of breathe I can figure that much out.” Steve sighed turning away to look out the window, he guessed that explained where Tony was, clearly he wasn’t interested in him in this form.

"Hey Stevie, it's gonna be ok we'll figure this out, but not being back to the sick little runt you were before is definitely a positive in the meantime." Bucky tugged lightly on his hand trying to get him to look back at them.

“Well... it's not… exactly… it’s, well… your blood work now is a kind of halfway between your bloodwork from before and mine.” Bruce began gaining Steve’s attention once more.

“I don’t understand, are you telling me I’m going to transform into an alter ego like you do with the hulk?”

"Well that might make things a bit interesting..." Bucky muttered under his breath, Bruce ignored him as he continued.

“Yes and no, until a situation arises to really test it, it’s just a hypothesis but I think… I mean, there’s no gamma radiation to trigger an alter ego or that level of transformation, the serum is still stable in that sense, it’s been a part of your for so long now that will probably never change, the transformation just doesn’t hold. When you began to panic after your first ‘de-serum’ for lack of a better term, your adrenalin spiked and your changed back to your ‘Captain America form’ I guess you could say but you were still you.”

Steve felt a bit sorry for Bruce a moment, here he was faced with telling him that even though his serum had be destabilized he was still in better shape that he was. Because even though Bruce had come to accept the Hulk more with the help of the team who completely accepted his green alter ego Bruce still had trouble with it at times.

“So… instead of just putting on a suit to change from Steve Rogers to Captain America, he'll now actually go from skinny Stevie Rogers and physically transform into Captain America?” Bucky asked, putting into words what Steve was still trying to work out in his own mind.

“At the moment it seems to be triggered by adrenaline but I can teach you some techniques and you should be able to learn to control it better.” Bruce says as way of confirmation.

“Thank you Bruce, now do you two mind, I… I just need a little time to myself.” Steve said staring down at his hands, studying them, it’d been such a long time since his hands looked this delicate he’d forgotten how long it made his fingers look.

"Stevie..." Bucky began to protest but a gently shake of Steve's head let his best friend know he was serious.

“Of course,” Bruce said heading for the door, he was just about to step through before he thought better of it and turned back to look over his shoulder. “Tony will come around Steve, he’s just surprised and confused.”

"He better, or I'm gonna go kick the dumb punk's ass." Bucky muttered as he followed the other man out of the room.

Steve didn’t say anything, he just rolled over to face the window.

 

**Nine hours after injury**

Rhodey walked out onto his floor in the tower, there was no point in going to the common floor since he’d seen the Avengers all over the live news feeds at a callout down state. Jarvis had informed him that they were all fine and most had turned in for the night, when he’d asked if Tony was in the workshop he’d been told that Tony was currently busy and would see him when he could. It was a standard Tony response when he wanted to be left alone so Rhodey took it at face value and headed to turn in for the night, he could catch up with everyone in the morning.

Meaning when he walked into his lounge room he wasn’t expecting to find pieces of the Iron man armor all over his floor and his best friend curled into a tiny ball in the back corner of the room with his head buried in his knees.

“Tones?”

Tired red eyes peered up at him through a dark scruffy fringe. There was a slight gleam to his eyes that had Rhodey scenting the air carefully. Eyes widening in understanding, Rhodey dropped his eyes as he lowered himself down to sit beside the other man.

Tony didn’t say anything at first just let Rhodey lean into his side to offer comfort and help pull him further back from the edge of going feral. He’d been teetering since watching Steve awaken of the security feed and hear Bruce’s conclusions about his lover’s condition.

“You want to tell me what happened?”

“Steve. Steve got hit with a weapon it… he went back to how he used to be before the serum. Then he began to freak out and changed back. But he passed out and went back to being small again and now doc says he’s like hulk but he’s not,” Tony mumbled.

Rhodey tried to make sense of his friends words but it just wasn’t making sense and as Tony fell silent and began to tremble where he sat, he knew he wasn’t going to get any real answers. Thankfully JARVIS was as much a genius as his creator and a small screen appeared before him with what appeared to be a pre-serum Steve Rogers sitting in a hospital bed with Bruce explaining his situation to him.

Once the video finished playing he had a bit more of an understanding of what was going on but that still didn’t explain Tony having such an adverse reaction to the situation.

“He’s ok, Tony he’s a little different but he’s ok and he’s probably wondering why you’re not in there with him, you’re always with him in the medical wing even when it’s something as small as a splinter you’re usually right there by his side, so what’s wrong this time?”

“He’s not my Steve.” Tony said eyes closing tightly to escape the now silent video feed of his lover lying alone in his hospital bed.

Rhodey felt a small swell of anger and a need to defend Steve but at the same time, he knew there had to be more to Tony’s turmoil, the alpha was loyal to a fault and wouldn’t just drop Steve because of his appearance.

“He’s still your Steve, he’s just a little smaller, I thought your alpha instincts would like that, having your mate smaller so you can be his big tough protector.” Rhodey teased, trying to coax his friend into really telling him what the problem was.

“You don’t understand.”

“Not if you don’t tell me Tones.”

Tony focused back on the screen in front of him, staring at his mate as he began to speak, he was tense and his speech was rambled so it was a good thing that Rhodey had had plenty of time to learn how to decipher Tony over the years.

“It’s not that he doesn’t have the serum enhanced body, its… I… I love the big idiot ok, small idiot… whatever but he’s not mine. Not anymore. There was something that the history books left out about Steve Rogers and maybe that’s the thing that made him the perfect candidate for project rebirth but it would have caused such a riot if it had been known.”

Rhodey frowned in confusion, Tony wasn’t making any sense but he dared not say anything for fear of his friend freezing up again and not giving him any answers.

“God Rhodey when I caught his scent on the quinjet, he smelt so sweet, so amazing. I’d never smelt anything like it before, never met an Omega before.”

“Omega?” Rhodey couldn’t help but blurt out in disbelief. With only 8% of the population presenting as Omegas most people never even met on in their lifetime.

“Yeah, Rhodey, Cap might be a Beta but Steve’s an Omega and you know the deal with Omega’s they have one mate, a _soulmate_ , if you will,” The word was said with such contempt that Rhodey had to resist the urge to flinch, “What are the chances it’s me?”

 

**Twelve hours after injury**

Steve glared at the blacked out windows of the workshop before him. He probably shouldn’t be down there, though he felt fine, if a little wobbly as he readjusted to moving around once move in a smaller body, Bruce technically hadn’t checked him out of medical yet. It was the early hours of the morning however so he was pretty sure no one was going to notice his absence just yet... except Bucky who'd kick his ass later for disappearing but wouldn't worry to much once he realised where Steve has gotten to.

He’d wandered up to their suite earlier, sick of waiting for Tony to show up but the older man wasn’t there, the workshop was his next guess and seemed to be correct.

He was just about to punch in his security code and let himself in when suddenly the door swished open and Tony came barrelling out and straight into him. There was a brief second where two sets of startled eyes met before the collision. Steve tensed preparing for the impact of the floor when he felt Tony’s arms wrap tightly around his waist as the other man twisted them mid air so that Steve ended up landing on Tony’s chest.

This close he couldn’t help taking in the Alpha’s scent. He smelt so good, he’d always smelt good but now it was so much stronger, the scent so much better he just wanted to lay here and bask in it but Tony had other ideas.

Steve found himself standing in front of Tony in the hallway, leaning against opposite walls and neither knowing really wanting to be the one to break the silence.

“Where were you off to in a hurry?” Steve finally asked picking what he assumed was a safe topic.

“You weren’t in your bed.” Tony blurted, flushing lightly as he realised what he’d given away.

Steve felt a flash of hurt and anger “You were monitoring my hospital room?”

“I was worried,”

“But you couldn’t be bothered to come down and see me. How do you think that made me feel, after what had just happened, my alpha couldn’t even be bothered to be in the room and make sure I was ok.” Steve finally growled.

“It wasn’t like that… I just…. I didn’t…”

“What’s the matter, are you having a rough day? Did you revert back to your pre-Iron Man days… oh hey maybe you have since you seem to be displaying asshole tendencies…”

“Whoever claimed Captain America was too noble to be a sassy bitch was clearly delusional.”

“Oh right, a bitch, that’s what lil Stevie Rogers was, and that’s what’s got you running for the hills. What’s the matter can’t handle the real me.”

“Don’t be stupid, it has nothing to do with you being an Omega.”

“Oh really then what is it then?”

Tony froze looking like a rabbit before a lion. “It isn’t completely because you’re an Omega…” Tony began and that was enough for Steve to turn and start to walk away, hiding his hurt with his turned back.

“Dammit Steve! If you came down here for answers at least listen to them.” Tony growled and Steve paused, but he didn’t turn around.

“I don’t know if you know what Omega right are like these days but it’s different. When Omega’s hit puberty they’re registered and monitored by the Omega division of the government. It’s for their protection, at least that’s what they claim, while registered they are introduced to all viable candidate alphas to help them find their true mate. Once they are matched their true mate the government decides their protected enough and leave them be.”

“What does that have to do with you abandoning me.”

“I couldn’t stand watching you paraded before and matched with someone else. I thought it would be better to walk away now and save us both the pain.”

Steve looked back over his shoulder to find Tony slumped against the wall staring at his shoes and some of his anger began to bleed away. Trust the stupid stubborn alpha to instantly assume the worst.

“What makes you think you’re not my true match?” Steve asked curiously, anger melting away at the understanding of what was going on it his lover’s foolish head.

Tony didn’t look up, but a bitter smile spread across his lips, “I’m not that lucky.”

“Did you never wonder why we worked so well as alpha and beta? Why for only a beta, I was able to balance you so well, so much better than anyone else ever had.”

“Figured it was something to do with the serum.” Tony shrugged still not looking at Steve but rocking his head back to rest on the wall behind him.

“No.”

Now Tony was looking at Steve with confusion.

“The serum had nothing to do with it. At first I didn’t understand why I wanted to be near you, I thought all my omega instincts were gone, wiped away by the serum when it shifted my orientation. They were just weakened so it took me a while to figure it out…” Steve explained moving slowly closer to Tony who was frozen staring at Steve in disbelief as he tried to process what the now shorter man was trying to tell him.

Steve stopped right in front of Tony, for the first time looking up into his eyes.

“To figure out why, whenever you touched my skin it tingles, why having you with me, taking care of me, me taking care of you made me feel so content. Why you smell soooo gooodd…” Steve whispered the last part as he pressed himself up against his lover so he could bury his nose in his neck and breath in the wonderful smell he was referring to.

Tony suddenly surged forward against him, hands gripping him about the waist Steve suddenly found himself lifted and slammed against the opposite hallway wall. Tony hot against him Steve returned the kiss that was pressed desperately against his lips, wrapping his leg tightly about the other man's waist to hold himself up as Tony's hands began to gently wander as if trying to relearn his body.

“I’m sorry,” Tony whispered against his lips, so softly Steve almost missed it.

“You’re a fool, but you’re my fool.” Steve replied, hands gripped tightly in Tony’s hair so he could force the other man to look him in the eye. “Are you sure you’re ok with me like this…If we do this, there’s no turning back, no breaking it. Omega’s have one true mate, you know that, we bond for life.”

“Good because you’re mine, no one else is having you.” Tony growled deep in the back of his throat making a shiver run down Steve’s spine as he lent back in to capture his soon to be mate’s lips.

 

FIN

  
  
  
  
  



End file.
